The sequel to one of my favourite books last year and it did not disappoint! The cast of characters is great again, with some really fun nuances that really separate the characters and make them true individuals. Looking forward to part 3 already!

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. HarperVoyager for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Shadow Cabinet’ by Juno Dawson. I complemented my reading with its unabridged audiobook edition, narrated by Irish actor, Nicola Coughlan.

This is Book 2 in Her Majesty’s Royal Coven Trilogy. The premise is that HMRC had been founded by Queen Anne Boleyn and throughout the centuries its member witches have used magic to protect Britain from various supernatural threats. I was pleased that Dawson opened with a few maps and a ‘Who’s Who’ that provided details of the trilogy’s characters and served as a handy reminder for returning readers.

Given that the trilogy has a continuous plot, the books do need to be read in order. As a result, just a few details for context in order to avoid spoilers for both novels.

The first novel, ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, had focused on the fortunes of five friends, each a witch. As teenagers they identified with the Spice Girls. Now in their thirties, Helena had risen to become High Priestess of HMRC; Leonie had left HMRC to found Diaspora, a inclusive coven for witches of colour; Elle had embraced a mundane life as a housewife and mother; Niamh had semiretired and become a vet; while her identical twin sister, Ciara, has been in a coma for nine years.

The narrative follows their differing responses to a prophecy about a ‘Sullied Child’ and the novel had ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger.

Book 2 opens with a flashback thirty-five years previously as Miranda, the mother of the twins travels to the island of Inishmaan in Galway, Ireland. She is there to consult Old Biddy Needles and receives a chilling prediction about her unborn daughters. Then we rejoin the action in the present day, shortly after the events in ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Coven’.

As in Book 1 the narrative point of view moves between various characters. These and their locations are indicated at the start of each chapter. There are also the occasional flashbacks that fills in details about characters and events.

I found ‘The Shadow Cabinet’ a more satisfying read than ‘Her Majesty’s Royal Coven’. The quibbles I had remain - in the form of the witches teleporting and flying and the use of the term ‘warlock’ being used rather than the gender neutral term ‘witch’ for all practitioners of witchcraft. (Warlock is a term reserved for oath breakers). Still, I had come to terms with these aspects of the trilogy before embarking on Book 2 as after all the author is writing fantasy in the vein of ‘Charmed’ and other pop culture portrayals of witches.

However, I was pleased that Dawson had chilled on the more political aspects of the first novel and focused more upon the women, their loved ones, and community. There’s still plenty of action along the way and some great revelations. The teenage characters do seem to take a back seat in this volume though there were some indications that they will have a bigger role in Book 3.

Juno Dawson ends with another fantastic cliffhanger that left me wanting the next book in my hands. While at present there’s no publication date for ‘HMEC: Human Rites’, I will be looking out for news of it.

With respect to rating, ‘The Shadow Cabinet’ was a solid 4 stars, though again I so appreciated Nicola Coughlan’s narration of its audiobook edition to give it 4.5 stars, which I have rounded up to 5.

I had the opportunity to read Her Majesty’s Royal Coven previously so when I saw the Shadow Cabinet was available I jumped at the chance to continue the series.
Personally for me, this sequel was even better than the first book. The character growth continued, we saw depth to them all, and individual quirks which were missing in the first book. I also felt there was a more tangible plot which developed steadily and has various subplots interwoven through it too. The younger characters were so much more developed. Lastly there were some really interesting twists which were unexpected and left some further questions. The end did not shock me, it had been an undercurrent throughout but I definitely want to read the third one too now.

I need to lie down after this book. The constant unfolding of the story, reveals from the first book, and the constant action didn't give a minute's leeway to stop and catch my breath. This was such a great sequel, it was easy to see how well thought out this whole series has been, and as with the first book there was a lot of interesting points made on gender politics and identity, all mixed in with a witchy story I didn't want to look away from. I am fully shook from that final reveal and I need the next book like yesterday

This is a fantastic follow up to Her Majesty's Royal Coven. The original was bold, fearless and unapologetic and the sequel follows that beautifully. I really enjoyed the further in-depth look we got into the witches' lives. It shows a broad spectrum of women living their lives and Dawson infuses magic into this easily.
Her writing is always engaging, picking up the voices of the different women effortlessly.
I can't wait for the next one!

The Shadow Cabinet picks up the abundance of dramatic tension from book one's finale, and continues to add more twists through to its own multilayered climax. Ciara takes some getting used as a protagonist but is absolutely worth it for her own development and the emotional payoffs along the way. The plot is a much wobblier affair this time, with characters and threads far more scattered and far less of a central theme; I also didn't find the humour, references, and modern slang nearly as smooth this time. There's also this weird recurrence of POV characters essentially insisting they are not bi (although not quite in that language), which I just find a little bizarre. But quibbles aside, I am so excited to see the final instalment, where I hope we can maintain the drama and also bring sole thematic resolution.

EEEEEEEEEEKKKK!!! Why do you keep doing this to us?! What an ending! I loved this instalment, I learned more about each of the group, I got to know Ciara on a different level and I loved the character growth. We still had 10/10 wit and banter and I will always love the relatable nostalgia that is referenced throughout.

I enjoyed the plotline and it took us further afield this time. I can't quite say if I'm ready for it all to come to a head if I'm honest. I'll miss our protagonists and there's so much more character building to explore...

Thank you to HarperCollins, NetGalley and Juno Dawson for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had the opportunity to read Her Majesty’s Royal Coven previously so when I saw the Shadow Cabinet was available I jumped at the chance to continue the series. Personally for me, this sequel was even better than the first book. The character growth continued, we saw depth to them all, and individual quirks which were missing in the first book. I also felt there was a more tangible plot which developed steadily and has various subplots interwoven through it too. The younger characters were so much more developed. Lastly there were some really interesting twists which were unexpected and left some further questions. The end did not shock me, it had been an undercurrent throughout but I definitely want to read the third one too now.

After loving Her Royal Majesty’s Covern SO much, I was worried the sequel wouldn’t live up to the high standards its predecessor had set. There was certainly no need! The Shadow Cabinet continues to expand on the rich world of the HMRC, filling its pages with great character development. Despite my fear I would miss a certain character’s POV in favour of another - if you know, you know - I was really pleasantly surprised! I am already desperate to read the next instalment! Who do I have to hex to get a copy ASAP?!

Disclaimer: I received a free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

There were formatting issues with my copy of this so I had to wait for it to be published to get my hands on a copy.

I had some issues with the swearing - which felt completely gratuitous at times - and some aspects felt a but repetitive BUT I loved going back into Dawson's brilliantly crafted world of witchcraft and the action scenes were particularly well done. Good...but not quite as good as the first,

I enjoyed the first one so much and was looking forward to reading the sequel. Happy to have the chance to advance review it so thank you.

Firstly, not related to the book, the download for kindle was absolutely awful. The words were jumping around everywhere and it really wasn't readable, had to read it on my phone which I'm not a fan of tbh.

Secondly, this was the sequel I needed. Continuing on from where it left off, with everything in a shambles and evil still lurking around. There was consistency with how the author is able to bring real world issues into this books and makes it relatable within the characters and the writing of transitioning for Theo is something many young people will be able to relate to and find a connection with.

I am definitely looking forward to the third installment, we need good triumphing once and for all!

I was worried that The Shadow Cabinet wouldn't live up to the hype of the first unstallment, but, if possible, I loved this sequel even more! It's just as wonderfully magical, feminist and queer as it's predecessor. The character development was perfection and the way the story continued was effortless and fluid.

Thankyou to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

After really enjoying the first book i had high expectations of this one and it didnt let me down!
-Seemless continuation of story
-further character development
-enemy redemption arc
-friendship and family
-twists and turns
-fast paced
-multi pov and story points

Thoroughly enjoyed it but my God that ending?!!! PURE Evil making us wait for the third book after that last chapter!

I wasn't sure going in how this book would be as I really loved Niamh in the first book. But I actually warmed to Ciara really quickly considering she was a murderer who made deals with demons. Actually it was really interesting the way that Dawson dealt with all her characters in this book. It showed people as not really good or bad, but that they made choices that were good or bad. Ciara definitely made some bad choices and I certainly wouldn't trust her with anything (especially Theo) but I really grew to understand her and why she made those choices and began to believe that she could make better ones.

Theo is my favourite character and I would die for her. Her friendship with Holly is wonderful and adds to the themes of friendship and sisterhood that are abundant in these books. It was interesting to see them changing and developing especially with the things that happen during this book.

That ending though. If you don't like books ending on cliffhangers, you definitely need to wait until the next book comes out before you read this one. The ending was killer and I need the next book right this second. My advice is to get all three books when the next one comes out, put them in a pile beside your favourite reading chair and devour them all in one go.

WHAT THE HELLLL

Juno, you cruel.

Second books in a series are notoriously difficult, but Juno Dawson clearly had no such issues. The Shadow Cabinet is a masterpiece and the number of times it made me yell at it out loud is testament to that.

We could focus on the discussions about race, gender, womanhood and the constant violence against women - masterful.

We could talk about the rich character work - exploring the boundaries of good and evil, the depth of female friendship and sisterhood, and the ways that your upbringing shapes you - masterful.

And all of this through a lens of magic and witchcraft as a stunning fantasy novel.

This series is incredible.

Having to wait until 2025 for Human Rites? Inhumanly cruel.

I was a big fan of the first in Juno Dawson's trilogy so I couldn't wait to get my hands on the sequel. Glad to say that I wasn't disappointed. The cliff hangers in these books are fantastic. Now the challenge is waiting for the third!

The shadow cabinet:
Book 1 - amazing!!!
Book 2 - definitely lived up to the first!
I both love and hate a cliffhanger so GOD I cannot wait until the third book comes out!

Goddess! I’m not sure I’m ever going to recover from reading this! What a beautiful, majestic, elemental rollercoaster of a ride this is. It has EVERYTHING - revenge, ire, myths, magic, love, passion and so much anger and heart. But I’ve just one complaint - how am I going to wait until book 3? Anyone know any spells for time travel?


Note to the publisher: there was a lot of technical issues with the file (the first few paragraphs of chapter 1 kept being repeated throughout the book, making it a bit of a challenge to read, hence why my review is so late - but it was such a FANTASTIC book it was worth having to decode it!)

The Shadow Cabinet is the sequel to Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, and follows the witches as they deal with the events of the first book. The book is full of action and twists, and there was lots of interesting character development, especially for Ciara. I really enjoyed this book and am very grateful to have been given the chance to read this copy as I loved the first book as well and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen to the characters-especially Theo, as she was one of my favourite characters from the first book. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book and I would definitely recommend this series to anyone interested in stories about witches and found family, as it was beautifully written and a very riveting read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author & publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this read :) I think I liked it a bit more than the first the character development was good and ending was 😳 haha looking forward to the next instalment!